Quotes at the beginning of a text.

[JimC]

Occasionally, the author decides to put a quote at the beginning of a chapter or short story. Why?

What is the general purpose of this? Can you think of any examples where this is effectively used? I know I can, I'm just curious what the consensus is. Most of the examples I can think of are where the author is expanding on the particular quote. Is this the most common usage?

Do you use quotes at the beginning of any of your work? Do you ever look into another book because of a quote in this context?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

[jgweed]

Unfortunately, this practice has largely been abandoned (The French Lieutenant's Woman seems an exception, but that was a part of Fowles's strategy). As a prefatory motto, its purpose was to summarise---in a way---the theme what followed or to provide another perspective to the reader, by recalling to mind that referenced work. That the quotation and the entire work from which it came would be more or less known and understood by the reader was assumed.

[bazarov]

Agree with jgweed...Examples?
In Ana Karenina, quote is from Bible and is telling us we should not judge Ana and her acts.
In Devils, quote is also from Bible and is telling us what should and probably will happen with those nihilists.
I don't write so I don't quote :D

[Annamariah]

There are quotes in the beginning of every chapter of Watership Down (and in the Tales from Watership Down too). I think they work very well there.

[tractatus]

"Never use epigraphs, they kill the mystery in the work!" Adlî (poet, Ottoman Sultan, 1447-1512)

"If that's how it has to die, go ahead and kill it; then kill the false prophets who sold you on the mystery in the first place!" Bahtî (poet, Ottoman Sultan, 1590-1617)

This is two epigraphs, at the begginning of the first chapter of Black Book by Orhan Pamuk. This two epigraph says it all, or nothing. Is not big deal in modern novel to use epighraps. It may be a saluting way for the writer (to the writers he/she admire), may be related with what you will be read in the following chapter, or may not be a quote of else but belong to writer's own.

Different from classics- If it's just a quote that writer likes and want to use it, today a writer can make it said by her/his hero to use it. Or can use it in a dialog etc.

[kiki1982]

Saramago still does it. In his Siege of Lisbon he used a quote:

As long as one doesn't find the truth, one will not be able to improve her. But if one doesn't improve her, one will never find her. But one should not give up.

In Harry Mulisch' The Assault he used a quote about the eruption of the Vesuvius in 79 AD (?). Everywhere there was light, but here it was as dark as the night. It was a book about the war and it's implications...

Both books were from 1989.

Quotes are used to shed a light on how we should interpret the book or what it is actually about, maybe the quote brought the writer the idea to write that book etc.